The percentage of senior US high school girls who say they want to get married has plummeted, polling suggested.
Though attitudes among boys aged 17 and 18 have remained largely unchanged, the proportion of similarly aged girls looking to marry has fallen from 83% in 1993 to 61% in 2023. Falling fertility rates are causing concern globally, but the problem may be upstream of childbirth.
Marriage rates worldwide are falling; in China they hit an all-time low of 6.1 million last year, and South Korea and Japan have seen major falls. Japan had the fewest marriages in 90 years in 2024, and Korean women are embracing the “4B” movement, rejecting marriage, childbirth, dating, and sex with men.